


Kitten

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Series: Talon!Damian AU [5]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 20:25:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4235418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He cocked his head in curiosity, like he’d never seen a creature like the ones in front of him before. And Selina knew that was a lie - Bruce complained about Alfred’s cat hair at least once a week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> I had it in my mind that the brainwashing method the Court uses can be done multiple times, and Owlman has recently tried to redo it to Damian. However, Damian’s able to keep fighting the programming, with the proper stimulation. Though the programming has wiped his knowledge of the world, at least in this state, so he doesn’t realize that cats and bats are animals, outside of being parts of names. The only actual animal he knows of is owls. I kind of lost focus halfway through this one, augh.

Gotham wasn’t kind to the homeless. The city didn’t matter if you were black, white, sick, well, old or young. Everyone fought for the same things. Everyone fought the same battles.

She knew that better than anyone.

So when she saw that little shadow, she paused, running through the names in her head. Frankie? Andy? Isabella? Taylor? One of the Faust Twins?

No, none of the street children moved like that.

In fact, that shadow moved more like a…

She felt her eyes widen. Her lungs fill with a sharp inhale.

She needed to call Bruce. She…she needed to let him know her location, know it was an emergency.

Because she’d heard what happened. Heard about the Batman’s most recent loss. Watched as he and his kin continued to shatter, every day that child was separated from them. Saw how they exhausted themselves trying to get him back.

The shadow shifted again. Closer to her, this time.

No, there was no time. She needed to lure the child nearer. Capture him, _then_ call Bruce.

She glanced down at the box of kittens she’d just found. Too big to carry, too heavy to run with, should she need to. 

_Memorize the location, Selina. Come back for them later._

She twisted. Getting ready to spring, when - 

“Catwoman.”

She never had much interaction with the youngest of Bruce’s kids, though from the little she had, she remembered he wasn’t that pleasant. Harsh, a bit snotty. But his tone now put that to shame. Cold, emotionless, empty.

“Depends on who’s asking.” Selina purred back. “And you are?”

“Here to kill you.” The boy responded, stepping into the buzzing yellow light of the road. “You are an ally of the Batman.”

“Sometimes.” Selina admitted, looking him over. His body was coiled and rigid, eyes sharp, though vacant. She recalled one of the others - was it Jason? Or Tim? - who said that the last time they’d seen him, he had been so emotional. So conflicted. There was none of that now. 

“Then you must be eradicated.”

And he made it sound so simple. So logical, Catwoman almost agreed with him.

“Sorry, boo.” She shook her head. “No can do.”

“You must be eradicated.” He repeated, stepping forward. The knife in his hand twinkled in the streetlamp. “And I do not fail.”

“First time for everything, champ.” She laughed, though backed up a step. Normally the tight quarters of the alleyways could be used to her advantage. She didn’t see that being the case tonight. “You don’t want to do this…” And Jason said it was a bad idea. Said to avoid it at all costs, as it seemed to harm the boy’s already broken mind. But she couldn’t help it. She needed to distract him. “…Damian.”

Damian twitched. His jaw tensed. But he didn’t say anything.

“You don’t.” She reiterated.

“I do.” Damian returned. “Owlman said. You are my target tonight.”

“Yeah well. You don’t want to work with that guy. That guy sucks.” Selina waved it off, tried to be nonchalant. Damian didn’t react, other than to step forward. Selina jumped back again, could feel the presence of a wall behind her. “Hey, I’ve got an idea, kitten, how about you and I team up? Take that Owlman guy down, eh? You’re too cool to be working with him.”

“You are an ally of the Batman.” Damian said definitively, holding his knife up in front of his face. “You must be-”

_“Mew!”_

Both woman and child froze, blinking in surprise. Selina felt her insides curl. Bruce’s son be damned. If he so much as _looked_ at those kittens wrong, she was taking him down in the most painful way she knew.

But he didn’t. Instead, his arm holding the dagger lowered. His lips parted in surprise. He blinked rapidly a few more times.

_“Meeeeeeow?”_

Damian turned towards the sound, head jerking back and forth as he searched. And Selina took a chance. She went out on a limb. “They’re down there, sugar. By the dumpster.”

And Damian remained silent as he stashed his knife. As he dropped to his knees next to the flimsy box. He cocked his head in curiosity, like he’d never seen a creature like the ones in front of him before. And Selina knew that was a lie - Bruce complained about Alfred’s cat hair at least once a week.

“These…” Damian breathed, lifting one up. A cloudy gray, with bright blue eyes. “What _are_ these?”

"Cats.” Selina answered, crouching next to him. Just a little more. Just a few more seconds, and she could grab him. Get a little trust first. “Well, baby cats. Kittens.”

Damian held the little gray one up to his face, inches away from his nose. Staring at it studiously. The kitten gave a little cry, swiping at Damian’s lips. Damian jumped, almost dropped the baby in surprise. The other kittens still in the box rose up in chorus.

“Okay, it’s okay!” Selina cooed, trying to hide her laughter. “He’s just saying hello.”

“Hello…” He held the kitten back up. The kitten blinked once, placed his paw gently against Damian’s cheek. And Damian…Damian _smiled_. “Hello, katten.”

” _Kit_ ten.” Selina corrected gleefully. She reached out, petting the gray kitten’s head, lifting one of the black ones still in the box into her own hand. “Do you like him?”

“N-” Damian started, but not before the kitten started purring, tapping that paw against Damian’s face. “…Yes…?”

“You may keep him, if you want.” Selina whispered. “You can…” Then, a thought struck. “I know this place, where you can stay. Where you can live and take care of him. Does that sound good?”

“No.” Damian said instantly. Suddenly he stood, the kitten meowing by the unexpected movement. And there it was, there was that brokenness that Jason mentioned. “No, I-”

“Or, you can take him with you.” Selina corrected.

“No!” Damian shrieked. Without warning, he was in Selina’s face, shoving the kitten roughly into her arms. “I can’t take him! _You_ take him!”

"Why?” Selina asked dumbly. “Why can’t you take him, little one?”

“I can’t, I _can’t_.” Damian stumbled. “Owlman will-“

And memory seemed to flash across his eyes. A painful one, if the sudden lurch of his body was any indication.

"No.” Damian said one final time. Softly, as he backed away.

Selina frowned, standing, clutching the two kittens to her chest as all of them meowed in confusion. “And what of your mission, kiddo? Aren’t you supposed to kill me?”

But Damian was too lost in his reminiscence. He continued to shake his head as he backed away. It was a few seconds later, when he was almost completely engulfed in the shadow once more, that he ordered: “You never saw me. This never happened.”

Selina blinked, and the kid was gone. Most likely still standing there, she knew, but she couldn’t see him. Not even just a little.

Her chance was gone. She’d messed up by waiting too long.

She wasn’t going to be able to help Bruce after all.

She sighed, slumping as she gently placed the kittens back in the box with their siblings.

**Author's Note:**

> [Other Talon!Damian stories](http://fishfingersandjellybabies.tumblr.com/search/talon%21damian)


End file.
